Whether it’s a house fire or a heart attack, emergency responders will tell you “every second counts” when they’re racing to a scene. Now a town in Rockland County is considering technology to control traffic lights to help speed emergency response times.
But some residents are not sure it’s worth the investment.
When lights flash and sirens sound, drivers at intersections are supposed to give way to emergency vehicles. But first responders say many distracted drivers do not.
“With all the horns, whistles, lights, on the truck, still not everybody hears us,” says Chief Kim Weppler of the Hillcrest Fire Company. “The one thing that definitely still catches everyone’s attention, is a red traffic signal.”
A new strobe light installed on a truck now flashes a signal to a sensor on specially equipped traffic lights so cross traffic gets the red and the emergency vehicle gets the green. The signal can be picked up from almost a quarter-mile away, so if cross traffic has the green, there’s time to safely cycle through yellow to red and give the oncoming emergency responder the green light.
The manufacturer says the units cut response time an average 20 percent.
Right now, there are just a handful of “EVP-equipped” intersections in the town of Ramapo, but the town is looking at a big expansion. To install the technology at a single intersection costs $10,000. To do it town-wide, the price tag is pretty steep – $1 million.
Residents are debating whether it’s worth all that green to allow emergency responders to control red lights.
The town is moving ahead with plans to seek competitive bids to buy an install the equipment.
(Source: WCBSTV)
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2 Responses
What a wonderful technology! Too bad it’s so expensive. They should have a fundraiser. Since there are residents who are not in favor, it would not be right to tax them to pay for something they don’t want (even if it will benefit them).
In America we are taxed for many things we don’t ‘want’ but which ultimately are for our benefit. To me the problem of this traffic light system has been the abuse of it by people who have gotten their hands on illegal transmitters and can then change the light at their whim. Instead of spending this type of money on a traffic light system, who don’t the police, in Ramapo, NYC and everywhere, ticket those selfish, ‘distracted’ drivers who don’t obey the law and yield to emergency vehicles?